Improvement in revolving fire-arms



o. wEss0N.

Revolving Fire-Arms.

Pateul-1tedlan.l9,1875.

ii |a I i TTED STATES PATENT OEEtoEo DANIEL B. WESSON, OF SPRINGFIELD,MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN REVOLVING FIRE-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 158,874, dated January19, 1875; application filed July 30, 1814.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL B. WEssoN, of Springfield, in the State ofMassachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in RevolvingFire-Arms, and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawing making a part of this specification, and to the letters ofreference marked thereon, in which- Figure l is a central verticallongitudinal section through a revolving fire-arm, showing my inventionapplied thereto.

My invention relates to that class of revolving tire-arms, in which amany-chambered cylinder is made to revolve at the rear of the barrel,and in which au extracting-plate, having a stem extending through saidcylinder, is used to extract the empty shells from the rear ofthechambers of the cylinder; and my invention consists, first, of a rod,arranged to slide within the hollow stem of the extractor, the latterhaving a shoulder inside, near its forward end, and the rod a shoulderat the rear end, between which shoulders a spring, arranged upon therod, has its bearings, and the rod has an annular shoulder at theforward end, against which a hook or catch engages to draw out thesliding rod, when the extractorstem is moved to the rear, and also toprevent the rod from sliding into the stem, when released from itscatch; and my invention consists, second, of a finger-piece or lever,pivoted to the frame beneath the cylinder, and having a part thereofprojecting below the lower surface of the frame, so that it may beeasily pressed upward by the nger, and having upon its forward end ashoulder, which abuts against a shoulder in the idler, and which hasalso upon its forward end an incline, which, when the forward end of thebarrel is moved downward upon its pivot to its fullest extent, ridesover a point or abutment beneath the barrel, and moves the forward endof the finger-lever from contact with the idler, and permits the latterto turn back upon its pivot.

In the drawings, A represents the barrel, B the frame, and A thechambered cylinder, made to revolve in the frame at the rear of thebarrel. L is the extractor-stem, which is made hollow, and into which isinserted from the rear end the rod m having a spring, o', thereon, whichbears against a shoulder, o, made on the inside of the hollow stem L atits forward end, and against a shoulder, s, made on the rear end of therod. A head is attached to the forward end of the rod, which has ashoulder, x, to limit the vinward movement of the rod m, and also anannular shoulder, n', against the rear side of which the hook or catchn, made on the rear part of the lever K, engages. This lever K ispivoted to the under side of the frame, and a spring, b, inserted in itsrecess, operates to force out the forward end of the lever, keeping theprojec tion or catch u on the rear part always in against the annularshoulder nf, and the rear end of the lever K and the forward end of therod m are so beveled as to permit the rod to slide over the catch nwhenever the rod is forced forward into place. The toothed idler F ispivoted in the joint in the ordinary manner, and the extractor-stem hasthe annular teeth or projections to correspond, by means of which theextractor is moved to the rear in the cylinder to extract the shells;and to the under side of the frame is pivoted the lever H, which has ashoulder, f', on the upper part of its forward end, to abut against acorresponding shoulder made in the idler, and which has also an incline,f", on its lower forward end, so arranged as to ride up upon the part eof the lower portion of the barrel, when the forward end of the latteris forced downward to the proper extent in raising the rear end of thecylinder. A spring, g, is arranged between the rear end of thefingerlever H and the frame, to keep the forward end of the lever alwayspressed in against the idler, and some part of the rear arm of saidlever projects outward beyond the under side of the frame, so that saidlever may be easily pressed in by the finger, by which the forward endof the lever may be disengaged from the idler.

The operation of my invention is as follows: The arm having beendischarged, the latch C is thrown upward, unlocking the barrel from theframe, and the forward end of the barrel is tilted down. As thismovement is made, the idler F is prevented from rotating by the ngerlever H, and the annular teeth upon the ex' tractor-stem engagingwith the teeth of the idler the extractor-plate and stem are movedthrough the cylinder to the rear to throw out the shells. As the catch non the lever K, however, remains in contact with the annular shoulder uon the end of the rod m., the latter is prevented from moving with theextractorstem, and is drawn partially out of the latter, therebycompressing the spring o upon the rod m and within the stem until, asthe barrel is tilted farther down, the point e passes under the inclinef at the forward end of the finger-lever H, throwing out that end of thelever, and disengaging it from the shoulder f on the idler. As the idleris thus released the elasticity of the spring operates to draw forwardthe extractor-stem and rotates the idler, and the extractor and stemquickly ily back to place. The extractor being then in place against therear end of the cylinder the loaded shells may then be inserted into thechambers, and the barrel being then tilted up into place the end of thefinger-lever H rides around on the smooth periphery of the idler untilit is forced, by the spring g, into place in Contact with the shoulderf.

If it is desired to detach the cylinder and extractor from the barrelthe thumb-screw D, at the top of the barrel, is turned out sufciently torelease the cylinder-catch E, and the barrel being unlatched from theframe the forward end ofthe lever or detent K is pressed upward with thefinger, detaching the catch 'n from contact with the shoulder u on theend of the rod m, and the cylinder and extractor may be then removed.When replaced the beveled end of the rod m as it is being moved intoplace slides over the catch n, which quickly springs into place behindthe shoulder 'n'. rI he cylinder-catch is then inserted in place, thethumb-screw D turned in, and the arm is ready for use.

Sometimes it is desirable to tilt down the barrel without having theextractor move to the rear-as, for example, if one or lnore of thecartridges should be faulty, and it should be desired to tilt down thebarrel without having the cartridges moved out. In that case it wouldonly be necessary'to unlatch the barrel from the frame and press up therear end ofthe lever H with the finger, as the rear end of the barrel isstarted upward, thereby releasing the forward end of the said lever fromthe idler. The extractor will not then be thrown out, and the barrel maythen be tilted down without moving the extractor until the rear end ofthe cylinder is brought down into position to be latched to the frame,allowing the forward end of the finger-piece H to drop into place behindthe shoulder f on the idler, when the extractor will operate as before.

As a part of the finger-lever H projects below the surface of the leverpart of the frame, to which it is attached, it will be seen that saidlever, and the movement of the extractor, may be easily operated by thepresence of the ringer of the same hand which holds the pistol, whilethe other hand is used to manipulate the cartridges.

I am aware that catches of various designs have heretofore been used toretain the idler in place while extracting the shells; but I am notaware that the device hereinbet'ore described has ever before been madeor used.-

Having therefore described my invention, what I claim as new is l 1. Ihecombination of the detent K, held in place by a spring-rod, m, springo', and extractor-stem L, substantially as set forth.

2. A finger-piece, H, pivoted about midway its length, a part of whichprojects below the surface of that part of the frame to which it isattached, so that it may readily be operated by the pressure ofthefinger to disen gage it from the idler, and also provided with anincline, f", to ride up upon a projection on the lower part of thebarrel, in combination with an idler for operatin g the extractor.

3. The combination of the hollow extractorstem L, spring-rod m, andspring o', substantially as described.

DANIEL B. WESSON. Witnesses:

v T. A. CURTIS,

C. E. BUCKLAND.

